1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to a door handles, locksets, and components thereof, more particularly to an apparatus which extends the handle portion of the door handle/lockset away from the door portion of the lockset to accommodate curtains, blinds, and the like.
Doors are made out of many different types of materials and some include glass panes within them, specifically, French doors which include multiple panes of glass. In order to insure privacy many people place a covering over this glass. This covering is in the form of drapes, curtains, blinds, mini-blinds, vertical or horizontal venetian blinds or other material. However, when certain curtains or blinds, such as mini-blinds, are placed over the glass the door handle is effectively covered or blocked thus making access to the door handle difficult.
One type of door handle lock lockset used with French doors is commonly referred as a quick-set lockset. This lockset includes a door portion and a handle portion wherein the handle portion has a shaft which fits within an opening located within the door portion of the lockset. When force is applied to the handle, the shaft is used to transfer that force to the latch locksets located within the door portion. The handle portion is designed in such a manner as to snap within the door portion of the lockset in a very quick and efficient manner. When installed, the distance the handle portion rests from the door is usually not far enough removed from the door as to be easily accessible when mini-blinds or other types of window coverings are used.
There is a need for an improved handle or a lockset having device which extends the handle portion of the lockset in order to allow unincumbered access to the handle while still being able to utilize mini-blinds or other such window covering material.
2. Prior Art
As far as is known, there is no device which satisfies the above mentioned need. Campion, U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,783 discloses a method and apparatus for conversion of a door knob lockset. Generally, this disclosure focuses on providing a universal door knob which is adapted for mounting in association with the hardware systems of a variety of types or designs of manufacture. It does not, however, disclose or discuss the extension of the door handle portion of a lockset.
Dittman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,733, is directed toward an aid for grasping round knobs and includes a hand-held grasping element which when positioned over a round door knob is able to assist a person in manipulating the door in which the round knob is attached. Matthews, U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,793, is directed toward an extension for bath faucet valve operators and includes a hand-held device similar to that in the Dittman patent. This device includes a hand-held conically shaped element which engages bathtub or shower faucet handles. Like the Dittman patent this device is hand-held and does not teach the technology of extending the handle portion of a lockset away from the door portion of a lockset.
Other patents include Katayama et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,064, directed toward a door lock for handicap persons; Fayerman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,720, directed toward a door latch apparatus; Lind, U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,489, directed toward a lever adapter for a door knob; McCoy et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,536, directed toward a universal lever handle attachment for a door knob, and also U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,219,192, 3,093,400 and 2,947,561.